LONG
BEACH, Calif.---California must have cured whatever ailed Alexander
Stewart and Evan Miller as the Panama City, Fla. sailors won US Sailing's
Youth Multihull Championship for
the Arthur J. Stevens
Trophy Saturday and Sunday.
Eighteen teams competed
on new Nacra SL16 catamarans in conjunction with host Alamitos Bay Yacht
Club's annual Olympic Classes Regatta that featured Finns, Lasers and a
handful of Stars. The youngsters---boys and girls ages 13 to 18---sailed
inside the breakwater while the OCRs ran outside off Seal Beach, and both
enjoyed Long Beach's fresh sea breeze of 10 of 12 knots all weekend.
Stewart, 18, and
Miller, 16, edged first-time catamaran competitors Andrew Mason, 17, and
crew Chris Segerblom, 14, of nearby Orange County by half a point.
Stewart arrived in town
last week carrying a stomach flu that was running through his family, and
when it hit Miller Friday their participation was doubtful. "I thought we
wouldn't be able to do it," Miller said, "but we felt better Saturday, and
[Sunday] we were fine. I guess we’ll leave whatever we had in California."
They stayed at Mason's
house, which despite their illness must have benefited both teams. Mason
and Segerblom told them about sailing at Long Beach, while Stewart and
Miller offered tips about sailing multihulls to their rivals who had never
sailed anything with more than one hull until six days before the event.
Mason said, "When
someone told us the Youth Multihull Championship was here we said, 'That
sounds like fun.' "
They flipped four times
on a windy practice day last week, started the regatta with 2-6-2-2
finishes Saturday and then won a race Sunday to give the Floridians a run
to the wire.
Third
place finishers were Chase Shaw (Baycliff, TX) and Alex Scanlon
(Seabrook, TX). Graham Gardner (Honeoye Falls, NY) received
the Hobock sportsmanship award.
